Sync Like a Pro: Audio and Video Alignment in FCPX 2024

Practical Guide: How to Sync Audio and Video in Final Cut Pro X 2024

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Beautifully captured cinematic footage with crystal clear results and melodious audio attracts viewers and leaves an everlasting impression. However, if there is a delay in the audio and video, you need to sync audio and video clips.

Only an advanced video-editing software like Final Cut Pro X can solve this problem and get everything lined up and cohesive. Its auto-sync feature allows you to adjust audio with video and present your footage realistically and creatively. Similarly, users can create Multicam clips and include multiple clips at any given angle with the FCPX.

Read this beginner’s guide to learn how to sync audio and video and create Multicam clips in the Final Cut Pro X.

• Part 1: How to Fix Audio and Video Sync Issue?
• Part 2: How to Auto-sync in Final Cut Pro X?
• Part 3: How to Match Audio and Video Manually in Final Cut Pro X?
• Part 4: Fast Ways to Sync Multicam in Final Cut Pro X

Part 1: How to Fix Audio and Video Sync Issue?

Why is Audio and Video out of Sync in Final Cut Pro X?

The audio and video out of sync is a common issue faced by most Final Cut Pro X users. They experience an audio delay in their edited video that gives a bad impression and haunts the user experience.

Whenever you face an out-of-sync problem, don’t assume that the clips in your sequence are also out of sync. Multiple factors can cause sync issues, the most prominent one is by an over-taxing of the processor when it tries to run the program at its maximum. Consequently, the overstressed processer fails to sync audio and video accordingly and causes a delay.

If you are experiencing an audio and video sync problem due to an over-taxing of your computer’s processor, follow these steps to relieve processor stress and solve your problem.

• Set the Canvas size to “Fit Window”
• Prevent the Canvas and Viewer from overlapping
• Use an updated, fast, and consistent hard drive that meets the minimum software requirements of Final Cut Pro X
• Set the control panel resolution must be to 75A Hz or higher
• Do not select too many real-time audio tracks
• Turn off the Mirror to Desktop option
• Avoid opening multiple sequences simultaneously
• Render the video sequence to a single file.

Part 2: How to Auto-sync in Final Cut Pro X?

Final Cut Pro X is an advanced and user-friendly video editing application. Its auto-sync feature automatically analyzes the audio and video clips selected in your timeline and allows you to sync video with audio.

To use this feature, use multiple audio and video clips recorded from different resources during the same take. Once you have selected, Final Cut Pro will automatically start analyzing the clips for sync points like date of file creation, markers, audio content, and time code, etc. After analyzing the clips, the syncing process will begin in which these audio and video clips will be synced together into a new clip without affecting the original clip. Even if your clips do not have any sync points, Final Cut Pro X will sync them at their respective starting points.

Users can also use custom settings for an advanced syncing process by adjusting different parameters according to their preferences. The following section explains the manual syncing process of audio and video clips in Final Cut Pro X.

This way, you can sync Multicam using audio in the Final Cut Pro X. To verify or adjust the sync, open the Multicam clip in the Angle Editor and drag it to the left or right. For single-frame adjustment, you can use the comma/period keys, while the left/right angle bracket is used for 10-frame adjustments.

Sync can be pretty easy with handy editing tools, like final cut pro, or Filmora, a much friendlier editor for beginners. Learn more about sync in the video below.

And download Filmora to have a try!

In case you may want to learn how to Edit the Beat and Sync Videos to Music.

Best Video Editing Apps to Sync Video to the Beat of a Song.

Part 3: How to Match Audio and Video Manually in Final Cut Pro X?

After you have captured beautifully cinematic footage of a beach and recorded the audio separately, it’s time to add magic. If your results are crystal clear and the audio sounds melodious, you need to sync the audio and video clips and get everything lined up and cohesive.

Follow these simple steps to sync audio and video manually with Final Cut Pro X:

• First of all, import your audio and video clips and in the FCPX browser and select the ones to be synced;
• Select any two clips from imported files and right-click on them to open a dropdown menu. Choose Clip > Synchronize Clips to begin the syncing process. You can also use the shortcut Option + Command + G;

• Final Cut Pro X will analyze the clips and create a new clip by identifying the exact sync point. Once the analysis has been completed, give a name to your newly-synced clip and select the Use Audio for syncing. Keep organization in your mind since you may have to manage with multiple clips depending on your project size. Besides, you can remove your reference audio from the video track by disabling audio components on AV clips;

• Click OK and let the program complete the syncing process. Once the Final Cut Pro X has generated a synced clip with your specified name, click and drag that clip into your timeline.
• Go to the Audio Inspector window, identify your main audio feed, and select that audio track to isolate the channel. Playback the audio to make sure there’s no delay and it has been synced with the video. You’re done! Enjoy your synced video.

Part 4: Fast Ways to Sync Multicam in Final Cut Pro X

Multicam is an amazing feature of the Final Cut Pro X that allows users to sync a multiple-camera job and manage unlimited video and audio angles. You can make Multicam clips with diverse media sources and include as many clips in any given angle as you want. Make sure you have labeled your clips with a camera name or an angle to make Final Cut Pro X sync Multicam properly. You can even name all the clips shot by one camera in a single step.

Follow these steps to create Multicam clips:

• Create unique folders and put all clips from each camera in these folders separately.
• Go to Preferences > Import > Keywords and set the Finder Tags to label the imported clips and set the shots apart from the filenames.
• In the FCPX menu, go to View > Browser > Toggle Filmstrip/List View for setting the Event Browser to List View. (You can also use the command OPT+CMD+2).
• If some of your clips have an incorrect time of day, you should adjust them first. Hence, select those clips and click Modify > Adjust Content Created Date and Time.
• In the Event Browser, select multiple clips captured with one camera or audio recorder.
• Press CMD+4 to show the Inspector, click the “i” button, and verify the clip’s information like camera name, etc.
• Give a specific camera name to the selected clips and press return and repeat the process for each audio recorder and camera.
• In the Event Browser, select multiple clips that need to be synced. Right-click on these clips and select the “Synchronize Clips” or “New Multicam Clip” option.
• Click the checkbox “Use Audio for Synchronization” to sync audio.

This way, you can sync Multicam using audio in the Final Cut Pro X. To verify or adjust the sync, open the Multicam clip in the Angle Editor and drag it to the left or right. For single-frame adjustment, you can use the comma/period keys, while the left/right angle bracket is used for 10-frame adjustments.

Conclusion

Final Cut Pro X is a professional video editing software used by both beginners and experienced photographers to create magic in their videos. Powered by several amazing features and advanced video-editing options, the application features a trackless magnetic timeline and supports compound clips.

Sometimes, an over-taxing of the processor may cause a delay in the video edited by Final Cut Pro X. Hence, the audio and video are out of sync that declines the video quality. To solve this problem, Apple Inc. introduced an auto-sync feature in FCPX which automatically analyzes and synchronizes the audio and video clips. You can also match audio and video manually by selecting any two clips and selecting the Synchronize Clips option.

You may wonder, is there any more way to trim audio? Yes, there is, click here to see Best Free Online Audio Trimmers to Trim Audio Easily .

Finally, the Multicam feature allows you to make include various clips in your Multicam clip from diverse media sources and manage unlimited video and audio angles.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox

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